4 min read

PORTLAND — For the second year in a row, the Yarmouth Clippers and York Wildcats show how evenly matched they are in boys lacrosse.

And for the second straight year, Yarmouth emerged victorious in overtime in the Class B state final, as a goal by Hakon Yeo lifted the Clippers to a 14-13 win at Portland’s Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“It’s unreal, it’s just the best feeling I’ve ever felt,” said Yeo, a rising senior.

The top-seeded Wildcats (14-3) and second-seeded Clippers (14-3) battled back and forth in the later stages of the game, neither leading by more than two goals. Brady Martin gave Yarmouth a 13-12 lead with 40.8 seconds remaining in regulation, but York’s Evan Anastas answered with just 9.2 seconds left, pushing the teams to a four-minute overtime.

With two of those four minutes burned, Yarmouth gained possession in transition. Matthew Cain tried dodging top left but was stopped by York’s defense. Yeo then cut in from the left side, caught a pass and rolled across the center of the 8-meter before firing a high shot into the cage.

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“I was kind of taking it easy, just doing my job, and I felt like I had some extra energy at the end,” Yeo said. “I just felt like it was my time, so I took the ball up top and I knew I could run over the top, and I just saw my opportunity. Shot it, scored.”

Yeo finished the day with two goals. He said he didn’t know how the team would celebrate, but celebrate they will.

“Just excitement,” Yeo said. “I got the shot off, I saw it was going in. I just instantly started running over to the fan section.”

Clippers coach Jon Miller said there was no specific play drawn up in those final seconds, but he knew if the ball was in the right hands, the team would get it done.


“All six guys out there are goal scorers, and so I told them to be patient, don’t make risky passes, and the opportunities will come,” Miller said. “We had a good shot before that, we were able to win the ground ball back, and then it was Hakon’s turn to make the play. He’s just a gamer, he gets it done, and that’s his job.”

York’s Anastas was first to score, unassisted. Cain answered just over a minute later. After Mason Walenta scored for York, Yarmouth’s Ian Minnihan, got the first of his five goals. Noah Stone, Jacob Donnell and Cooper Dodge then found the back of the net to give York a 5-2 lead heading into the second quarter.

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The Wildcats added three goals in the second quarter, by Quinn Walenta, Stone and Brett Aceto, while Yarmouth tallied four to bring the score to 8-6. Cain scored twice, Yeo connected off an assist from Minnahan, and then Minnahan ended the quarter with another goal.

“I think the guys just came out very hard at first, they did a good job coming out of the gate,” York coach Billy McNamara said. “We played well for four quarters, so credit to them, that was a good game.”

Yarmouth outscored York 3-2 in the third quarter, with goals by Colin McCann, Minnigan and George Brown. Minnigan’s goal with 7:07 remaining in the third tied the score at 8-8, but Anastas put York back in front, then Dodge scored off an assist from Walenta to give the Wildcats a two-goal lead.

“The whole game, we were down, we didn’t take a lead until the fourth quarter,” Miller said. “Even after we took a lead, (York) battled back. We went to overtime, so credit to our guys. They stayed composed the whole game and they had good patience, they played hard, they never gave up, and that’s just the way lacrosse goes. They get waves, and luckily, we’re on the right side at the end of it.”

Miller noted that goalkeeper William Redfield and the Clippers’ defense were the “only way we were getting the ball today,” as York kept winning face-offs. Miller said a theme of this season has been relying on defense to make stops and earn offensive possessions, just like the final overtime goal.

A goal by Martin tied it 10-10 with 10 minutes remaining. York regained the lead on goals by Aceto and Walenta, but Minnihan answered with two goals for Yarmouth, which then took its first lead on Martin’s late goal, only for Anastas to force overtime.

“I was nervous when they scored with like 14 seconds left, and then I knew we had to pull something forward, get our face-off guy the win, get the defense strapped down, and we got the win,” Minnihan said. “(On offense), they gave me a lot of space, and it was easy for me to move in between them, especially just having my teammates move and pull the other defenders out of place.”

York was making its third consecutive appearance in the Class B final. York beat Messalonskee in 2023 but lost in overtime to Yarmouth in 2024.

Yarmouth now has four state championships since 2019.

Haley has been with the Sun Journal sports department since November 2023. She graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles in May 2022 with a degree in international relations. Haley also played lacrosse...

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